What is a good media center program..
What is a good media center program..
That is free and can be used to store/view audio and video files? Please don't say P2P software because they slow down my comp like a mutha fucka, and I already know about Windows Media Center.
What more can I say I wouldn't be here today if the old school didn't pave the way.
hmm, I don't really know what you mean by "Media Center" and I haven't use Window Media Center, so I'll just assume that you want a generic media player program.
Personally I still stick with Winamp 2.9x, since it has a clean interface. It is also by far the fastest media player, and one that has the best compatibility. Some examples:
It can play SNES, NES, Megadrive, PSX, PS2... sound format. There are also a wide range of freeware plug-ins that allow it to play almost any kind of file format out there. I have not seen a media file that Winamp 2.9x cannot play.
It can play "compressed wav" files, that sound decent but is as big as an mp3, I have seen some taiwanese games use this. The PC port of Raycrisis also use this. Absolutely no other player I have tried plays it. Likewise, it can play a certain kind of mp3 that is much smaller than normal but still has high bitrate. These "unorthodox" formats are probably insignificant to you if you don't really want to seek out the rare and unusual, but if you do, then you still need Winamp for it.
And it has strong DSP support, again via plug-ins, that allow you to manipulate and potentially enhance the sound greatly. To my knowledge, this feature is non-existance in any other players.
Note that all of this do not apply to Winamp 3.x, which is much slower, has a cryptic interface, and has only a fraction of the compatibility of Winamp 2.9x. Honestly, I don't know why.
Personally I still stick with Winamp 2.9x, since it has a clean interface. It is also by far the fastest media player, and one that has the best compatibility. Some examples:
It can play SNES, NES, Megadrive, PSX, PS2... sound format. There are also a wide range of freeware plug-ins that allow it to play almost any kind of file format out there. I have not seen a media file that Winamp 2.9x cannot play.
It can play "compressed wav" files, that sound decent but is as big as an mp3, I have seen some taiwanese games use this. The PC port of Raycrisis also use this. Absolutely no other player I have tried plays it. Likewise, it can play a certain kind of mp3 that is much smaller than normal but still has high bitrate. These "unorthodox" formats are probably insignificant to you if you don't really want to seek out the rare and unusual, but if you do, then you still need Winamp for it.
And it has strong DSP support, again via plug-ins, that allow you to manipulate and potentially enhance the sound greatly. To my knowledge, this feature is non-existance in any other players.
Note that all of this do not apply to Winamp 3.x, which is much slower, has a cryptic interface, and has only a fraction of the compatibility of Winamp 2.9x. Honestly, I don't know why.
This causes to me a sensation of badness. - Stormwatch
Xbox Media Centre. Surely the finest media centre available on any format.
Unfortunately, this does mean you'll need an Xbox if you don't have one. However, for the cost of a 2nd hand Xbox, an X2 (£20, or do a TSOP flash for free) and a X-over cable to go from the PC you're set. You can stream stuff from the PC to Xbox, but if you want everything locally just bang in a bigger HDD.
I know this probably isn't the answer you're looking for, you want something to run on the PC. But I wouldn't be recommending this if it wasn't really worth it.
Unfortunately, this does mean you'll need an Xbox if you don't have one. However, for the cost of a 2nd hand Xbox, an X2 (£20, or do a TSOP flash for free) and a X-over cable to go from the PC you're set. You can stream stuff from the PC to Xbox, but if you want everything locally just bang in a bigger HDD.
I know this probably isn't the answer you're looking for, you want something to run on the PC. But I wouldn't be recommending this if it wasn't really worth it.
